This recipe will allow you to make an excellent brioche bread: delicious both to eat alone (with infinite variations) and to use for the crusted fillet (the recipe for which you can find by clicking here).
Consider that it will take you several hours to make it, as you will have to provide at least two leavening times of one hour each. You can make it either by hand or with the help of the bread making machine (in the leaven dough function – without cooking).
Ingredients:
- 125 ml of water
- 125 ml of milk
- 55 g of butter
- 50 g of sugar
- 700 – 800 g of strong flour (american flour)
- 2 eggs
- 10 g of salt
If you use fresh yeast:
- 50 ml of warm milk
- 18 mg of fresh yeast
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
Alternatively, if you use dry yeast:
- a sachet of dehydrated yeast to mix with the flour
To decorate:
- before baking 1 beaten egg and/or milk for brushing
- Flavorings (Salt, pepper, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, etc)
Heat 125g of milk and 125g of water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and turn off the heat. Add the sugar and butter cut into small pieces. The butter will melt in the water and milk solution, cooling its temperature.
Only if you use fresh yeast: in a glass mix the warm milk (I recommend not too hot! Otherwise the yeasts will die…) with the sugar. Add the crumbled fresh yeast and mix until the yeast dissolves completely. Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes until you see the yeasts begin to ferment: you will observe a light foam in suspension.
Add the yeast solution to the water, milk and butter solution, taking care to wait until the latter is now lukewarm and not hot. (If you knead with the bread machine, put everything in the appropriate container).
Knead by adding the whole eggs, the salt and gradually incorporating the flour (if you use dry yeast you will add this directly to the dough together with the flour). Work until the dough is soft and homogeneous and does not “stick”. If you work with a bread machine or a planetary mixer, mix all the liquids, except the flour, before turning the machine on, and then add the flour little at a time so as to slowly incorporate it into the dough. You will obtain a soft and very elastic dough, butter it generously with your hands and fold it as shown in the figure.
Knead by adding the whole eggs, the salt and gradually incorporating the flour (if you use dry yeast you will add this directly to the dough together with the flour). Work until the dough is soft and homogeneous and does not “stick”. If you work with a bread machine or a planetary mixer, mix all the liquids, except the flour, before turning the machine on, and then add the flour little at a time so as to slowly incorporate it into the dough. You will obtain a soft and very elastic dough, butter it generously with your hands and fold it as shown in the figure.
Let to rise covered in a warm place (for example a pre-heated oven at 50°C left off with the light on) for at least an hour until the volume of the dough doubles.
Once leavened, work the dough on a lightly floured surface and give it the desired shape: donuts, loaves, buttons, or making two or three loaves intertwining them (inside the loaves you can put small pieces of ham, or olives or dried fruit, closing them well).
Grease your bread with butter on the surface and leave to rise in a warm place for at least an hour (even two) until it is well swollen.
Once the volume has been reached, prepare to bakeit:
for the savory version: brush with beaten egg and milk, and then add various seeds to taste (poppy, pumpkin, chia etc, coarse salt and pepper and, if you want, spices.
for the sweet version: brush generously with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar (white or brown), sprinkles or whatever you prefer.
Bake at 180-200°C for 25 minutes. If the surface becomes too brown during cooking, cover with silver paper.
